When I first went to college, I was sure that I wanted to be a veterinarian. While I’m a far cry from that now as a chef and owner of a Maine windjammer, I’m inching in that direction again by having chickens and a cat and dreaming about my own horses, goats and pigs.
We’ve had chickens for almost two years now and I’ve, until this morning, never seen one hatch an egg. My patient daughter has. My daughter who can’t sit still hasn’t. Guess which side of the spectrum I fall?
As I sat on the fresh sawdust I’d just spread for the hens, Chocolate hopped up into a nesting box. The one they all prefer to use was overcrowded with three other hens all vying for prime real estate as they answered the call of their rhythms. Chocolate fussed and pecked and adjusted as one does sometimes when they are settling in for a nap, getting everything just right.
She then began to rock back and forth a bit. It looked a little like gentle labor, which I suppose it was. Her back end came up a bit and then the egg began to appear. Her membranes surrounded the egg as it gently plopped onto the hay.
Amazing. Animals are amazing.
Annie
So grateful to have these simple, gentle beings gifting us fresh eggs every day
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2 Comments
Iyone Meyer
April 22, 2010 at 3:16 amHen hatches an egg? Not what this story was about! Hatching an egg is when the little chick hatchling breaks through the egg into the nest. This story was about a hen laying an egg. Big difference.
Annie Mahle
April 22, 2010 at 8:23 amGood point! Oh well, clearly imperfection in all it’s beauty abounds in this office!